Roland MDX-40A

Desktop machine for Prototyping in a design environment.

The MDX-40A machine is aimed at Rapid Prototyping of small consumer goods.The machine perfectly fits between Roland's small SRM-20 and the large MDX-540. Its 305 x305 mm working area and 15.000 rpm spindle are combined with a compact and good looking housing.

A rotation axis (optional) is present that makes it possible to machine small models from all sides.

Roland MDX-40A machine.

System Overview

Design bureaus that are looking for in-house Rapid Prototyping will certainly be happy with this machine: the attractive design and fully enclosed housing make office use possible. All control electronics are integrated. The machine can handle tooling board (chemical wood), which is the most used material for prototypes. In addition Concept Modelling using foam, and Jewelry creation using wax are possible too. The machine is too light for working in metals.

Its operation is easy: it can be driven from the PC by just sending a file to the USB port via the Roland Printer driver. The NC file can be either in Roland format (which can be chosen in most CAM packages) or in G-code (the industry standard format for NC code). The previous version MDX-40 only accepted Roland format.

Differences with the very light SRM-20 and with the heavy-duty MDX-540 will be clear. Differences with the ICP series are that this machine is more accurate, and has a better quality spindle motor (no carbon brushes, much less noise) and spindle bearings. On the other hand the system is less powerful than an ICP machine (lighter spindle motor and axis motors). The axes are driven by geared belts, compared to ball screws in the ICP.

Construction details

The three axes move over steel bearings and are driven by stepper motors via geared belts (plastic). This limits the power of the machine, so tooling board has to be cut carefully, and cutting acrylic (perspex) is not possible. The spindle motor (100 W, max 15000 rpm) is a professional brushless motor, connected to the spindle by a belt. This separate spindle unit has made it possible to use high quality bearings, for long-life use even with drilling operations.

The machining table of the MDX-40A is a flat plastic surface: the material to be machined has to be fixtured using double sided tape, if needed using positioning pins. A sensor for setting the Z=0 position is standard included.

Price

Price

€ 6.600,-

Prices in Euro currency, excl VAT and outside the Netherlands excl shipment cost.
On-site installation and service are optional, available only in the Netherlands and in Belgium.
The machines are delivered with complete installation instructions.

Options

For the MDX-40A options are available including:

a rotation axis

a 3D scanning head

Rotation axis

As the control electronics inside this machine is already suited to drive 4 axes (only 3 axes simultaneously), it is easy to mount a 4th axis on the MDX-40A. The rotation axis, visible in the illustration above, can easily be taken off for three-axis milling jobs.

The rotation axis comes with a fixturing device to easily clamp rectangular material blocks to be machined. On the right side a centering point (with ball bearings) is present to support the block there.
Extra tool-sensors are included, with which you can automatically set the workpiece zero point exactly on the rotation axis (for Y and Z): very convenient.

It is easy to place and again remove the unit from the machine table as needed. It replaces the machine's working table, attached by a few screws. Of course also a cable has to be (dis)connected from/to a connector on the back of the machine.

Price

Price

€ 2.400,-

Specifications

Weight

6.2 kg

Max stock size

cylinder of diameter 120 mm and length 270.

Max Feedrate

max 11.79 rev / min

Mechanical resolution

0.0225 degr

3D scanning head

For this machine a scanning option is available. It is a Piezo sensor unit, that replaces the milling motor. So the machine can be either be used as a scanner or as a milling machine.